Beautiful
by kaiba'sgirl
Summary: It seems impossible for an evil tomb robber like Bakura to have any kind of feelings for anyone...is it really, though? That's what he thought, but a chance meeting changed all that. Is it fate? Aiyee...the story is better than this sucky summary! -_-;;
1. Prologue

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Beautiful

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Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh and all related material belongs to Kazuki Takahashi. 

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Author's Note: Here's a couple obvious but important things to know before reading. 

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1) Bakura is Yami Bakura, not Ryou. (Ryou will be referred to as…Ryou.) 

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2) Single quotation marks mean thoughts. Thoughts from Yamis to their aibous and vice versa will also be in single quotations; I'd rather have them in italics, but for some reason, italicizing and bolding doesn't work when I upload. 

This is my first attempt at a romance fic, so beware if it's a little…strange. It's not going to be as funny as my other insane fic, since it's not under humor. This fic's supposed to show that I can write stuff other than -

Bakura: - that mindless drivel she calls humor that's in her other fic. The one where I get that 'Ultimate Punishment'- 

A/N cont'd: Psst…he was crying like a baby, he was so scared of the 'Ultimate Punishment'…But back to this fic. It's probably going to be focused more on Bakura than the other characters - 

Bakura: Whoohoo! It's myyy turn to shine! Ha, take that, you egotistic limelight-lovin' Pharaoh! Wait a minute…this isn't a trick, is it? Are you sticking me in one of those mushy romance fics? HUH?! 

A/N cont'd: Um…no? And stop interrupting!! The rabid fangirls like mushy romance fics, right? Okay, this Author's Note is getting to be longer than I expected…so I'll stop talking now. Enjoy the fic! 

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Prologue

Bakura was walking in the rain, like he did every time it rained. The normally busy city streets were bare, puddles forming along the edges and on the sidewalks. People stayed inside on days like this…but not Bakura. This was one of the occasional times that he actually went out of Ryou's house; rainy days, and at night. 

Rain was one of the few things he liked. He enjoyed the feeling of the cool drops on his skin…but maybe…the real reason was that it made the skies gray and cloudy. Like the way he felt on the inside. He wasn't feeling suicidal at all, just…bored and slightly depressed. He just didn't seem to have a purpose, a goal, a driving force in his life now that he had promised Yami to give up his quest for the Millennium Items. 

'That just might've been the stupidest thing I've ever done in my life,' he thought to himself bitterly.

But, he had given his word, and if nothing else, Bakura was honorable. He couldn't go back on it, so…here he was. Walking aimlessly down an empty street in the rain. 

After pacing the street a couple times, Bakura decided to direct his steps toward the city park. 

'Maybe I can throw some rocks at the ducks,' he thought. 

He walked with his hooded eyes downcast, trying not to see anything except the wet pavement beneath his feet. Suddenly, he caught a glint of gold from a display window reflected in a puddle, reminding him of the Pharaoh.

'Damn that Yami! Why did I have to listen to him?' 

In an attempt to vent his mounting anger, he kicked a rock into a gutter.

'Now I'll never get all the Millennium Items…And I already had Pegasus's Eye too…Just five more items and I would've had all the power I've ever wanted and more…dammit, dammit, DAMMIT!' 

Bakura slammed his fist into a mailbox, denting it and nearly knocking it over. Hearing a rustle, he looked up for an instant to see a dog fleeing under a car. He considered throwing something at it, but decided it wasn't worth the effort and continued on his way. 

Bakura arrived at the Domino City Park with his eyes still fixed on the ground. He trudged over to the duck pond, picking up a good-sized rock along the way. 

'At least there are ducks today,' he thought cynically. 

'Whatever…' 

He halfheartedly tossed the stone in the direction of a mass of brown feathers where the ducks sat huddled.

He raised and then lowered his chocolate-brown eyes, following the arc of the rock's path as it flew through the raindrops. Suddenly, he noticed with a dull surprise that there was someone standing on the other side of the small lake. It was a teenage girl, he observed, who was watching him intently. 

Even with the pond's distance separating them, Bakura could see with a sideways glance her intense emerald eyes staring back, piercing into his own. It was slightly unnerving to him, though his face betrayed no emotion. The only person who ever dared to look him straight in the eye was Yami; never a stranger, and a girl at that. 

Their eyes locked full on. Seconds passed, and felt like ages. Time seemed to be suspended, there, under the shade of the trees in the lightly falling rain. 

Then, the rock Bakura had thrown only moments before shattered the glassy surface of the pool with a splash, breaking their gaze. 

"Quack!" 

Bakura, startled, instinctively turned his stare on the ruffled ducks indignantly splashing in the pond. Almost involuntarily, he looked back up. All he saw was a flash of black hair as she disappeared into the descending fog. 

'Too late…'


	2. Chapter 1: Bakura

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Beautiful

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Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh and all related material belong to Kazuki Takahashi. *rubs hands together* But I WILL get it one day! Wahahaha! *sees lawyers coming* Uh, just kidding! 

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Author's Note: Due to my disgraceful updating condition, this chapter will make a lot more sense if you still remember what happened in the prologue. Feel free to reread it if you want. 

Believe me, I'm properly ashamed of not updating. It was mostly to get the plot all worked out, and I think I can safely say that there will never be this long a delay again! -_-;; 

A very BIG **thank you **goes out to **Kiki Jones** for explaining how to preserve the formatting after uploading! As you can all see, I got it to work! Yay! (I also fixed the Prologue of this fic so it matches) 

Since formatting now works, thoughts between yamis and their aibous will be in _italics_, as well as single quotation marks.

Now the following part is important. _Important_, I say, so please read it if nothing else in this author's note! I call it: 

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My Long-Winded and Suspiciously Convenient Interpretation of General Yami-ness 

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1) Yamis can have birthdays, which they celebrate, too. Or at least the yamis that want to.

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2) Yamis get hungry, and they have to eat to satisfy their hunger, like normal people. 

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3) Yamis can't die from organic causes, say uh…old age or disease. However, they can die by accident (car accidents, etc, I guess) or on purpose, like if someone kills them or if they commit suicide. But they do have the power of their Millennium Items so it would be hard for someone to kill them. 

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4) Ryou calls Bakura "yami" because he's his yami. A capitalized Yami would be Yugi's yami, aka "Spirit of the Millennium Puzzle" or "King of Games," and lowercase yami would be any other yami, like Bakura.

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5) If the mind link is open, Yamis and aibous can hear each other's thoughts. Generally though, Yamis can hide their thoughts from their aibous even when the link is open. 

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6) Yamis don't have to stay in the Millennium Items and both they and their aibous will be fine as long as they are fairly close to each other. For example, in this fic Bakura has a real room in Ryou's house; he doesn't have to stay in the Ring all the time. But if they are separated for a prolonged period of time, say a month or longer, then it starts getting unhealthy for the yami (not the aibou), since he doesn't really have a body of his own. 

I'm not hinting at anything (well, not really) with that lengthy explanation, but if you'll just keep those in mind, the fic will make more sense. I'm sorry if some of these things don't fit your interpretation of Yami-ness, but that's how a bunch of plot problems were solved. 

Enjoy, and don't forget to review!

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Chapter One: Bakura

The door slammed shut and Bakura stepped into the house, entirely soaked. Rain was dripping from the tips of his white hair onto the tiled floor of the entryway, creating little pools of water where he stood glaring at Ryou. 

"Maybe you should take a hot shower, yami," Ryou said quietly, not looking Bakura in the eyes. 

Yugi, sitting opposite Ryou in the family room, said nothing. He knew that Bakura was not as kind to Ryou as Yami was to him, but he didn't really know all the details. Yami tried to protect him as much as possible from the truth of Bakura's harsh treatment of Ryou.

Bakura's only response to Ryou's suggestion was another glare, which was wasted since Ryou wasn't looking at him. Silently, he stalked past them and up the stairs, presumably to take that hot shower. 

Bakura disappeared into the upstairs bathroom, and almost instinctively, Ryou gave a soft sigh of relief. 

'It's sad really,' he thought, 'That I only feel safe when my yami isn't around.' For the thousandth time, Ryou wished that Bakura could be more like Yami, strong but gentle at times, instead of treating him so - well, cruelly. 

"Ryou?" Yugi reached out a tentative hand toward his friend. "Do you want to finish our duel?"

They had been dueling for fun that entire afternoon, and were in the middle of their fifth duel when Bakura had returned. As soon as Bakura appeared in the doorway, Yugi had felt a shadow fall over Ryou, but kept quiet about it so as not to accidentally get his friend into trouble.

"Huh? Oh. Um, sure, I guess."

Yugi glanced at his friend concernedly, and decided that finishing the duel would make Ryou forget about Bakura, at least for a little while. 

"Okay then. When we left off, you put down your White Magical Hat. Then I'm playing the Dark Magician, which destroys your monster. Your turn, Ryou."

"Oh. Then I play uh…Lady of Faith in defense."

Ryou was evidently making an effort to concentrate on their duel, but Yugi could see that his heart wasn't in it. In fact, it seemed like he was in his own world, much like Yugi himself looked when he was having a private chat with Yami, within himself. But was Ryou talking to Bakura? Somehow Yugi didn't think that Bakura was the type of yami to have a private chat with.

Glancing at the clock, Yugi was surprised to see that he had been at Ryou's house for five hours already. And as much as he hated to leave Ryou alone with Bakura, it was almost dinnertime, and that meant it was time to go. Despite Yugi's constant reassurances that he was capable of taking care of himself, Grandpa would worry if he was even a little late getting home.

"Hey, Ryou? I'm sorry, but I've gotta go."

Ryou started at the sound of Yugi's voice, and then glanced at the little life point counter on the family room table. He gave a half smile and said, "Looks like you beat me again, Yugi."

Shooting Ryou another concerned look, Yugi got up and began collecting his cards. 

"I've got to get back to the shop; it's almost dinnertime," he repeated.

Ryou was cleaning the table of their snacks, but seemed to hear what Yugi said this time. 

"Oh, alright then."

"I wish I could stay a little longer, but tomorrow's Yami's birthday, and he'll be upset if I don't show up tonight to wish him a happy _early_ birthday, you know -"

Yugi caught himself just in time. He had been about to say jokingly, "You know how _needy_ yamis can be sometimes," but then…Ryou probably wouldn't know. He sighed inaudibly and wished that he could do something to help his friend. But maybe there _was _something -

"You know, tomorrow we're taking Yami to get some ice cream and then we're going to the park or something. Why don't you come?"

'Nice save, Yugi,' he mentally patted himself on the back…then flinched - 'Ah! I forgot about Bakura!'

A little too quickly, Yugi added, "Of course, Bakura's welcome to come, too."

Ryou's face lit up in a genuine smile and if he caught Yugi's hasty add-on, he showed no sign of it. He waved to Yugi saying, "I'd love to come - with the whole group there, it sounds like it'll be loads of fun!"

Yugi beamed a reply. "Great! I'll call you tonight then, 'kay? Bye!"

Seeing Ryou's smile made Yugi less guilty about leaving him like that. Congratulating himself on his quick thinking, his feeling of guilt quickly melted into happiness.

'And,' he told himself, 'Tomorrow's Yami's birthday!'

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Ryou closed the door, excited at the prospect of an entire day with his friends tomorrow. 

'Bakura wouldn't dare do anything to me in in front of all my friends -'

Bakura. Bakura would probably to refuse to go, and that meant Ryou wouldn't be going either. But that's not fair!

'Nothing's fair for you.' he reminded himself. 

'I'll just have to get him to come.' But he doubted that Bakura would agree to ice cream and a stroll in the park, especially if it was with Yami and his 'fan club.'

Ryou looked at the clock; Yugi was right - it was practically dinnertime. Well, he didn't feel like cooking today. He was about to pick up the phone to order pizza, when he thought that he should probably ask Bakura first.

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'Um, yami, I'm ordering pizza - meat lover's - okay?'

'Urmph.'

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'I'll take that as a yes.'

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Though Bakura would never admit it, the hot shower Ryou suggested was a good idea. It also gave him the perfect chance to think in the shower without appearing to be a clean freak or something. It was just that having water running over him seemed to aid in the thinking process. 

He was feeling mildly confused right now, and confusion was not something he enjoyed feeling. He was Bakura, and Bakura _never _got confused. No, it was necessary that he sort this out.

Why hadn't he realized that he was that wet coming home? He had arrived home completely unaware of the fact that he was thoroughly drenched. 

He didn't even notice the fog that was threatening to lose him in its misty folds on the way home, which was dangerous. It was easy to get lost at night in that damned town. Even more unsafe was that he wasn't even aware he was going home - just that he opened the door, and he was already there.

Why didn't he remember anything? And why was he feeling this way? Could it have something to do with that girl he saw at the park? He told himself 'no' and tried to dismiss it from his mind, but it wouldn't go. 

And why was that? What was different about this girl than all the other girls he saw walking down the street everyday? He started having a conversation with himself.

'She looked me in the eye.'

'So? And?'

Bakura was interrupted from his thoughts by the sound of the doorbell. He heard Ryou answer it and assumed that the pizza was here. 

The meaty smell of the fresh pizza was too much for even Bakura to resist. It drew him out of the bathroom and downstairs into the kitchen. 

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While living with Ryou, Bakura had gotten used to all kinds of 'modern food,' but pizza was probably his favorite. He grabbed a couple slices and was about to sit down and eat at the kitchen table when he noticed that Ryou was eating in front of the TV. On a sudden whim, Bakura decided to join him.

Bakura slouched down on a seat on the couch where Ryou was sitting, leaving one seat between them. He didn't really know why he did that - maybe the pizza smell was making him go soft.

Ryou tried not to flinch as Bakura almost sat down beside him. What was he doing anyway? Bakura almost never ate with Ryou…or voluntarily sat down anywhere close to him. 

Was it some kind of mind game, or worse yet, some kind of test? It seemed to Ryou that every time Bakura punched him, it was like he was challenging him, like every punch meant, "Are you strong enough to take this punishment?"

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'And are you?'

Ryou jumped. He had forgotten that their mind link was still open and Bakura could hear every word he was thinking. Slowly, Ryou looked at his yami, sitting less than a yard away. Bakura's eyes were fixed on the TV, even though Ryou knew that he wasn't really watching the show. He was waiting to see what Ryou would say. 

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'I-I don't know, yami.'

'Mrrph.'

Grunts were usually the only answer Bakura gave anyone, and living with him for so long, Ryou had learned to understand them. This particular one meant, 'I could punch you right now but I don't really care, so I'm not going to'. 

Unexpectedly, Ryou felt Bakura close their mind link. That meant he had some private thinking to do. Why was his yami behaving so uncharacteristically? 

'First he comes and sits next to me, and then he doesn't punch me when he normally would, and now he's closing the mind link? I wonder what's going on.'

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For once, Bakura was genuinely surprised. He was completely thrown off when he heard Ryou interpret the beatings he gave him as a test of strength. Now that Bakura thought about it, Ryou was…right…in a way. His mind drifted back into the past and he knew he was going to find memories of his childhood next. 

No. Bakura blinked and stopped himself. For some reason, he couldn't do that just yet. It was too long ago, too hard to remember, too painful. But he suddenly felt a surge of fierce pride for Ryou…but he'd never tell him that. Never. 

A loud burst of canned laughter from the TV pulled Bakura from his thoughts. He realized that he had stopped chewing and appeared to have just been sitting there for a several minutes holding a half eaten slice of pizza, staring blankly at the TV. 

'Ryou probably thought that I've gone completely psycho. Ha, it's not like I care what that little brat thinks.' 

Almost hurriedly, Bakura finished his pizza and left for his room. 

Making sure the mind link was still closed, Ryou thought, 'That's a first. I managed to not get 'punished' for a whole day. Something must have happened to Bakura during his walk. Maybe he met Yami -'

Just then the phone rang, and as promised, it was Yugi asking if Ryou and Bakura were coming tomorrow.

"Um, I haven't asked him yet. But it probably wouldn't have mattered if I did. See, he might agree now and refuse to go tomorrow. I think it'd be best if we meet you guys somewhere."

"Okay, we'll be at the ice cream place around 1:00 - it's the one Tea's uncle owns, Cherry on Top. Then we're going to head to the city park where I'm going to give Yami his present. It's gonna surprise the heck outta him!"

Yugi's excitement was infectious and Ryou felt himself grow excited in spite of his doubts about being able to go. 

"Sounds great! We'll try to meet you guys for ice cream then. In case we can't come, wish Yami a happy birthday for me."

"Sure, Ryou! I really hope you'll be able to make it."

"Yeah, me too. Bye, Yugi."

"Bye!"

Ryou sighed as he hung up the phone. He knew Bakura had closed the mind link deliberately, without even bothering to hide it. That was a clear sign that he didn't want to be disturbed, so Ryou couldn't ask him now, not unless he wanted to be pounded. 

'Guess I'll ask him tomorrow morning, then. Guess I'd better get to sleep if I want to catch him before he disappears somewhere.'

Suppressing a yawn, Ryou flicked off the TV. 

'Ah crap, I haven't even showered yet.'

He stumbled into the bathroom, trying not to make too much noise, in case Bakura was sleeping.

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He needn't have worried, because Bakura wasn't sleeping. He was lying in bed, thinking hard. He refused to dredge up memories of his past, so that incident with Ryou was closed from thought. But there was still the - 

'What the hell is wrong with me?'

'You know what it is.'

'Why are you still thinking about her? What's so unusual about her that she sticks in your mind?' 

'It's those green eyes of hers. They were so…intense.'

'And…?'

'…And I think I saw something different in them that made me remember them...something that reminded me of me. I saw…it was like fire…like I could see that she had…'

'…spirit.' 

He mentally slapped himself and turned over in the bed.

'Don't be stupid, Bakura. Tomb robbers don't have time for that stuff. Maybe I just need sleep.'

The last thing he saw before drifting into an uneasy sleep was a pair of brilliant emerald eyes.

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Author's Note: Whew. I hope that chapter was worth the wait, 'cause I worked hard on it. Poor Bakura, he's having such a hard time admitting that he's more than just an evil tomb robber!

Bakura: *sulkily* Am not.

KG: Anyhow, thanks for the reviews! All those for one chapter? Well, I'll be answering reviews now, so look for your name down there. 

Bakura: *slyly* And may I ask why you're doing that now? Do you think we're going to get more reviewers that way? 

KG: *looks around for an escape and finding none* Uh…well uh…yeah? I'm so shameless…*sweatdrop* 

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Yami Bakura Kia: Woo, first reviewer! How special! Thanks for reviewing! 

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Schala85: I don't just like Seto and Bakura, I worship them! ^_^ (Seto and Bakura: *sweatdrop* "Er…") I read _Mau's Fate_, and it's really good! Everyone, please check Schala's fics out, they're under her friend Biowolf. 

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Midnightelf: Thanks! Actually, I'm not too sure myself how it's going to turn out, but I think I have a pretty good idea…*taps side of nose knowingly* …at least, I hope I do!

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Sarina Fannel: Ack! "Soon" was the keyword…oh, hi there, guilt! And yes, I do agree with you. Personally, I don't really like Bakura portrayed as THAT abusive toward Ryou, but that seems to be the most realistic, or "in character." Poor likkle Ryou!

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Calen: Er… I haven't read 'Catcher in the Rye,' *hangs head* so I guess it wasn't a reference to it. And I did realize that it didn't sound quite right that Bakura listened to Yami and quit just like that, so I'll explain it better in a later chapter. Hope you keep reading! 

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Texas*Angel: Yes, I quite agree about the yaoi thing myself. I don't really have anything against yaoi, it's just that Bakura seems to be in those a lot more than he is in ones where he's straight. Er…what you said. ^_^

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Alyia: Yep, rain is cool. I'm going to try to make it a theme throughout this fic. BTW, thanks for reviewing my other fic too!

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Kiki Jones: Almost become a Bakura fan? Wow, I'm flattered, hehe. Well, we can try to convert you - oh, Yami Bakura fans?

Yami Bakura fans chant in unison: "JOIN US, JOIN US, JOIN US…"

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lynx wings: Hehe, that yaoi thing again! Well, that's semi-disturbing that this is the first straight one - there's not enough of them out there! Come on, people! We'll start a grand new thing! *marches around with signs saying 'Fans for a Straight Bakura'* or not…

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Eriko Myoujin: *nods* Yes, I agree about Bakura being more than a tomb robber! Oh no, again with the Bakura yaoi? Join our group!

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**(stellamilnes@aol.com****)**: Thanks, and I intend to! Just don't ask me when I'm going to post…-_-;;

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anonymous reviewer which I suspect is Kaiba_Tealie (^_~): Well, it wasn't _21_ more days…*weak laugh* And I'll certainly try to read your fics!

And now it's time for a little advertising! For those of you who have been deprived of straight Bakura fics, here are two authoresses that can meet your needs! Check out **Bana the Random**'s and **Tasha**'s fics!

Righto, now that all that's done with, please review again! For a little extra motivation, how about seeing Bakura's cute face again? Bakura?

Bakura: *scowls*

KG: Uh, never mind. Our tomb robber doesn't seem to be cooperating, but don't let that stop you from reviewing! ^___^


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